Garching Cultural Center
Garching, Germany
Integrative Studio Fall 2016
Professor Vincent Snyder
Design Partner: Natalia Lopez
Design Excellence Award Winner
Presented at “Sustainable Living: How Do We Want to Live in the Future?” Symposium at Technische Universität München in Garching, Germany
This project creates a new cultural center and residential complex for the city of Garching, Germany. Three core cultural programs—cuisine, performance, and making—are organized around a central platz and provide educational spaces for members of the community to participate in creative pursuits. The outdoor platz promotes active learning through engaging in culture as a process. Residents benefit from living and learning together and from a sense of belonging that is sometimes lost in today’s shifting global conditions.
Cross-laminated timber construction is used as a sustainable, modern reference to traditional building techniques, respecting the local character and regional architectural typology and increasing ease of construction.
Clad in untreated timber facade and roofing, this project will change and mature with time. The attention to detail and understated beauty of the Garching Cultural Center emphasizes its role as a framework for collaborative public space which will become integral to the city fabric of Garching.